Now or Never
by bloomsburry
Summary: Rey is the first to wake up in the aftermath of the standoff between Kylo Ren and her. She's on her way to boarding the Supreme Leader's escape cruiser when General Hux arrives. Trouble ensues when Rey decides to take the General and the unconscious Kylo Ren as her hostages and escape from the Finalizer. (Slow Burn Reylo and Reyux)
1. Prologue

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Rey is on her way to steal Snoke's escape cruiser dock near the throne room when someone unexpectedly arrives.

As soon as Rey hears the ding on the turbolift, she knows that she is in trouble, and she is not wrong in that regard when the door slides open to reveal a familiar man in military uniform. His pale skin and red hair is a stark contrast to his dark clothes.

Rey instantly recognize him at once from the holovideos she had seen in the Rebel Base when General Organa had debriefed her about the First Order.

The man is General Armitage Hux. One of the most powerful man in the galaxy next to Kylo Ren. And at the sight of Rey, the man immediately freezes, his cold blue eyes staring at her for a moment before he swiftly assesses the destruction and carnage around the throne room.

She watches carefully when the General's eyes lands on the hacked body parts of Snoke near the throne and Kylo Ren's unconscious form on the other side of the room.

Rey's heart starts thumping loudly against her rib cage when the General's eyes go back to her once more. As their eyes meet from across the room, Rey instantly knows what the General is about to do next.

She does not hesitate or think twice of lifting her hand to summon the small blaster hidden behind the General's greatcoat just as he is about to take it. The blaster is already flying towards her when Rey realizes that it is not the only weapon the General has hidden up his sleeves. A mistake she soon regrets as a hidden blade comes whirling in her direction, in the same instance, the blaster finally lands on her hand. Rey cries out in pain when the blade embeds itself on her right shoulder. She stumbles back and then quickly turns sideways to avoid another blade that comes flying her way.

Pulling the blade from her bleeding shoulder, Rey silently curses when she catches sight of the General stepping back in the turbolift perhaps to escape from there and inform the rest of the First Order of Snoke's demise.

Raising her hand up, Rey uses the Force to wrench the door of the turbolift open and keep it that way as she runs towards the General.

"You're not going anywhere, General!" She yells angrily, gritting her teeth as she feels the blood seeping from the wound on her shoulder.

She watches as the General steps further back away from her. His cold blue eyes glaring defiantly as Rey points the blaster at him.

"I'll not have you reporting back to your men for what happened here." She says to him as she finally comes to a halt in front of the door

"Now, step out from the turbolift!" She commands, glaring straight at the General's cold blue eyes. "And do it slowly."

The General merely sneers at her.

Rey can practically sense the General preparing to fight her as the man cautiously steps forward.

"Try to do something and I'll blast your head –"

She doesn't get to finish her sentence for the General suddenly launches himself at her. Rey panics and instantly pulls the trigger, but her aim is poor. The shot passes the General by a hairs breath where it singes his great coat.

In seconds, the General is crowding her and trying to wrench the blaster away from her. Then, without warning, the man knees her on the rib with such strength that Rey gasps in pain. The attack forces her to relinquish her hold on the blaster. Yet Rey does not stop fighting. Wheezing, she throws a blind punch in the General's direction and she would have kick him if not for the feeling of cold metal pressing on her temple.

Rey stiffens at once.

"Do you think that I'll let slip of a girl get the better of me?" The General hisses, pointing the weapon at her. "You should have known better than to underestimate me girl!"

Rey senses it the moment when the General is about to pull the trigger, but she is already on the move.

 _Now or never,_ she thinks and with the twist of her hand, Rey does something to save herself from her dire situation.

A shot ring out, but the shot doesn't hit Rey. Instead the blast hits the far wall. Soon after, Rey watches as the blaster falls useless to the ground just as the General starts choking on empty air.

"And do you think that I'll let someone like you win this war?" Rey grits out, curling her hand tight as she slowly straightens up to face her adversary.

Rey may not have done this before but she somehow understands the mechanics of a force-choke.

The General starts to flush scarlet. His gloved hands clawing at his throat and Rey doesn't feel mildly guilty at the sight of him suffering.

"No, General." She murmurs, stepping closer to him. "You and your First Order will lose this war, I'll make sure of it, and I'm going to do it with you and Kylo Ren's help…Because the two of you have no choice but to become my hostages."

She uses her other hand to summon back the blaster into her own hand and then points it at the General once more.

"Now, do as a I say."

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	2. Forceful Intervention

With a blaster pointing towards the man's head, it didn't take long for the General to start following Rey's orders. The first thing she did is to order the man to use the manacles – the one use on her previously - to handcuffed Kylo Ren.

General Hux does so carefully and slowly, placing Kylo's arms behind his back before putting the manacles on him. Rey soon realizes that the General is purposely delaying and Rey is not having none of it. So she threatens him with a shot near his foot to keep him moving fast.

Afterward, Rey uses the Force to keep Kylo unconscious, but she is not certain how long it will last or if her actions are effective. Perhaps it is because the Knight of Ren does not even stir when she orders Hux to carry him to Snoke's escape cruiser which is dock in adjacent room.

Despite the General's slight form, Rey is surprise that Hux manages to accomplish the task without even looking mildly breathless as he brings the unconscious figure of Kylo Ren.

And as she watches the man march into Snoke's escape cruiser, Rey suddenly gets a terrible feeling about taking him as her hostage alongside the Knight of Ren.

But seeing that he is already there, Rey resolve to continue with her plans despite her misgivings. She understands that she may use the General as a bargaining chip when things turn for the worst. It is either that or leave him behind which she knows is not even a good idea.

Rey lingers outside, watching as the redheaded man disappear into the opening of the cruiser.

 _Now or never,_ she thinks again and then follows after the General with determination in her eyes.

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"Don't think for one second that you'll be able to escape from here," is the first snide comment the General says to her after he has deposited the unconscious Kylo Ren in the cockpit. "My men will soon discover what has transpired in the throne room and shut down this escape craft before you can leave."

Rey stares at the General for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"True. But I have you with me, and I'll use you to open those proverbial doors when it comes to that."

A nasty sneer appears on the General's lips and Rey knows he would have said something more if she hasn't pointed a blaster at him in warning.

"Sit," she tells him instead.

"And where do you want me to sit down scavenger?" The General snaps back, his blue-gray eyes flashing dangerously.

Rey glares at him.

"In the pilot seat General." She barks, waving the blaster towards the seat.

It is only with a forceful prod of the blaster behind his back that the General finally sits down. However, not before throwing a murderous look in Rey's direction.

"I want you to contact the main bridge." Rey tells him as she stands beside him in front of the control panel. "Tell them to stop tracking the rebel fleet and to change course for the Core."

"No," comes the General's immediate answer, his eyes narrowing into slits as he holds her gaze. "I won't let you have your –"

Rey is done with the General's constant opposition. So without preamble, she grabs the lapels of his great coat and pulls him close to her.

"Tell me General," She hisses in a dangerous tone as she glowers into his pale eyes. "How well do you value your own life? Do you value it as much as I value the lives of my friends? Because if you try to oppose me again, I'm going to blast your head off and use Kylo Ren instead for what I have in mind... So please, I dare you to test my patience once more and I won't responsible for what follows…"

That shut the General up, but Rey can still see the muscle leaping on his jaw as he clenches his teeth while those blue-gray eyes glare daggers at her.

Releasing him, she points the blaster at the General's head and repeats her order.

"Contact the main bridge and tell your men not to pursue the rebel fleet and retreat back to the Core. And if you try to deviate from what I told you…" she allows the threat to linger in the air while she watches as the General's glare intensifies when he looks at her.

After a long pause, Armitage Hux finally says to her, "Fine."

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Within moments, Hux manages to patch up a communication with the main bridge of the First Order and begins ordering them around like he usually does.

However, as expected, his orders are met with questions, and Rey stands there tensely as she listens to General Hux talk to the Captain.

"Captain Phasma, I won't say it again."

"But sir –"

"I said stop the pursuit, Captain!" General Hux all but growls the order, glaring at Rey from the corners of his eyes when she presses the blaster at his side. "Stop firing at the rebel fleet and immediately prepare to jump into hyperspace! That's an order!"

"But to where, Sir?"

"To the Core! Just anywhere but here, Captain!"

And before the Captain can reply, Rey immediately cut off the communication feeds before the General can say anything else.

However, with Rey's attention on the comm, she does not expect for the General to suddenly attack her without warning.

As quick as a dessert snake, the General slaps away the blaster from Rey's hand and slams her into the control booth with all his might.

The blaster clutters to the ground unceremoniously. Then, the General twist Rey's arms behind her back before pressing her down into the control booth to stop Rey from attempting to Force-choke him. A struggle ensues with Rey trying to dislodge Hux by raising her legs and hitting the General with her knees, like he did to her before. Yet the General did not relent his hold on her as she continues to struggle beneath his grip. The General is using his much taller frame and superior strength to effectively restrain her.

Rey tries to head-butt him, but that too is swiftly evaded.

"What is going on?!" a voice says and the two combatants turn simultaneously to see Kylo Ren staring at them in obvious confusion.

"Ren, good, you are awake." The General manages to grunt as Rey resume wriggling beneath his steely grip. "As you can see, your little scavenger here has attempted to take us hostage and -"

But the General is not able to finish his sentence because he freezes in shock as Rey wraps her legs around his hips to pull him closer with the intent to prevent him from escaping.

"Bastard!" is the only warning the General gets before Rey does something that both surprises the General and Kylo Ren.

Rey bites the General hard.

The man curses as Rey's teeth sinks into his shoulder. The hands on her wrists loosening which allows Rey to tear herself away from him.

"Savage, rebel scum!" the General says as he stumbles back. He is breathing hard while his hair is now in disarray after the short skirmish.

Yet Rey does not allow him to make another move as she reaches for the Force and starts choking him.

At once, General Hux falls to his knees, albeit this time, the fury in his eyes never truly dissolve even as he begins to choke.

Meanwhile, a pair of dark brown eyes watches in silence as all of this happened, where Kylo Ren can't still understand how the hell did he end up handcuffed.


End file.
